City fat cats are refusing to help fund next month’s river pageant in honour of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the event’s organiser has claimed.

Former government minister Lord Salisbury has hit out at those who have declined to donate, including some of the biggest and richest businesses in the country.

It leaves organisers perilously short of the £10.5million needed to stage the procession, which is set to be the showpiece of the Jubilee weekend celebrations.

A spokesman for the event, on Sunday, June 3, last night declined to name names and stressed it would still go ahead. But the Mail understands that British Airways and leading investment bank JP Morgan were among those approached.

Lord Salisbury said that while money had poured in from foreign firms and a small number of wealthy individual donors in the UK, the response from some British companies had been shameful.

‘We will get there – eventually – but the lack of generosity from British firms has given me a huge amount of unnecessary work and made the task [of fund-raising] an uphill struggle.’

Asked whether those in the City of London were among those unwilling to give, Lord Salisbury said: ‘Oh yes, absolutely, very distinguished people indeed.

‘There are huge companies hosting large parties watching a free show we’re providing who have not made any contribution at all. Unless they start showing some generosity, I’ll start naming them.’

The event has been billed as ‘the greatest show the Thames has ever seen’, with 1,000 boats and 20,000 participants taking to the water, including the Queen and every senior Royal.

Lord Salisbury has stressed that the pageant will be funded entirely by private donations, as the Queen was particularly insistent that no public money should be used, nor did she want any full-scale public appeal for funds.

Last night a spokesman for British Airways did not deny the claim that it has refused to contribute.
But sources at JP Morgan revealed talks were taking place and the bank would be likely to commit to a sizeable donation by the end of the week.

One comment

Lord Salisbury is so full of sh** as he tries to make out the City of London is part of England when it is totally nothing of the sort. This goes all the way back to the 13th Century if the truth is known, not just in more recently history. Whilst on the subject of Country, can Lord Salisbury inform the people in Britain why the City of London destroyed England in 1933 and replaced it with a corporate vessel controlled under Admiralty Law aka Vatican Canon Law? Hows about The Worshipful Company of Mercers enslaving everyone under the Cestui Que Vie Act 1666 commanded now by Emperor Juan Carlos of the New Holy Roman Empire and Evelyn De Rothschild.